Conventionally, vehicles having a transverse travel system have been found among large size conveyance vehicles and some loaders, and reach style electric vehicles as forklifts. In addition, there exists a side forklift with a mast and forks installed sideways in relation to the movement direction of the vehicle to allow the vehicle to handle elongated objects. However, there are no counter balance type forklifts that can move sideways and function like a side forklift in addition to such tasks as generally required. To realize this type of forklift, the front wheels or driving wheels are required to be steerable sideways.
Therefore, a conventional forklift 1, shown in FIG. 8, has a pair of right and left front wheels 3 (driving wheels) in a front part of a vehicle body 2, a pair of right and left rear wheels 4 (steerable wheels) in a rear part, and a driver's seat 5 on an upper front part of the vehicle body 2. A mast 6 capable of vertically extending and retracting is located at the front end of the vehicle body 2 to be able to tilt in a front-and-rear direction through a front wheel axle 7 extending in the vehicle width direction. Additionally, tilt cylinders 8 enabling the mast 6 to tilt forward and backward are placed between the vehicle body 2 and the mast 6.
The mast 6 comprises a pair of right and left outer frames 9 and a pair of right and left inner frames 10 capable of vertical movement by being guided by the outer frames 9. Disposed between the outer frames 9 and the inner frames 10 is a lift cylinder 11. Additionally, lift brackets 12 capable of vertical movement by being guided on the inner frames 10 are provided, and a pair of right and left forks 13 are secured to the lift brackets 12 through a pair of upper and lower finger bars.
The above mentioned driver's seat 5 includes a seat 15, a steering wheel 16 located in front of the seat 15, and a headguard 19 disposed thereabove through front pipes 17 and rear pipes 18 which are erected on the vehicle body 2. Additionally, a counterweight 20 is located in the rear of the seat 15 on the vehicle body 2.
However, since the right and left frontwheels 3 are driven in common by a same travel drive system, the above mentioned conventional forklift 1 cannot effect straight-sideways steering of the front wheels, thus being unable to move laterally.